Crew-Sounders Preview

The Columbus Crew appear to have righted an unexpected poor start to a season of increased expectations.

Jordan Morris knows about raised hopes as well, and the heralded Seattle Sounders rookie is beginning to live up to them.

As Morris aims for a third consecutive game with a goal, the Crew vie for a third straight win in Saturday's visit to Seattle.

Returning virtually intact from last year's MLS Cup final run, Columbus (2-3-2) didn't live up to its advanced billing as a prime championship contender by going winless in its first five matches. The Crew haven't lost since, following a 3-2 home win over New York City FC on April 16 with last Saturday's 1-0 victory over visiting Houston.

Columbus is 0-2-2 as the visitor, though that may not be reason for panic. The Crew didn't obtain their first road win of last season until mid-July, but won six of their final eight away games to help rise to second in the Eastern Conference.

"Our first four road performances this year have been better than the first four road performances last year," coach Gregg Berhalter said. "We are comfortable, we like the position we are in and again, we still want to keep improving and that is the important thing, that we keep getting better."

Kei Kamara's recent uptick in production is also a positive sign. After netting one goal through the first five games, the star striker has scored in each of the last two, converting a penalty kick against Houston.

Morris also is delivering encouraging results for Seattle (2-4-1). The 21-year-old U.S. National Team member's second-half goal was the lone bright spot of last Saturday's 3-1 loss at Colorado, a disappointing result after the Sounders seemed to have overcome their own slow start by going 2-0-1 over their previous three games.

"I thought the first three games of the year, even though we lost, we were unfortunate and I thought we played better and created more chances than the opponent," coach Sigi Schmid told the Sounders' official website. "(Last week), I thought we as a unit, coaching staff, players, we beat ourselves."

Seattle's frustration was exemplified by captain Brad Evans' red card for verbally abusing the official when complaining of a late Rapids goal that appeared to be offside.

Midfielder Andreas Ivanschitz will also miss the match after straining his thigh last week, but the Sounders are expected to have Clint Dempsey and Nelson Valdez back to the attack after both sat out against Colorado with injuries.

The Sounders have won two straight at CenturyLink Field but have lost their last two home matchups with Columbus, which posted a 2-1 victory in Seattle in March 2014. Kamara scored twice and the Crew overcame a brace from Dempsey to earn a 3-2 home win in the teams' lone 2015 meeting.